The present invention relates to a portable electronic apparatus such as a portable computer or a handy terminal adapted to carry out data transfer with an optical signal.
Conventionally, optical communication between two portable electronic apparatuses is carried out by using optical fibers and optical connectors for connecting the two portable electronic apparatuses to each other through the optical fibers. This system is suitable to cope with undue radiation. However, it has a disadvantage such that the optical connectors cannot be quickly connected together. As a technique for solving this problem, it is known to adopt optical space communication without using any optical fibers and optical connectors. In the optical space communication, it is only necessary to decide a direction of radiation of an optical signal, so that data transfer can be easily carried out.
In the optical space communication, however, it is necessary to transmit an optical signal to another apparatus located remote from a transmitting position to some extent. Therefore, an output of the optical signal must be enlarged, resulting in an increase in current consumption. Accordingly, this technique is not applicable to a portable electronic apparatus.